Rossville Library Museum and the Rossville Cemetery

May 11, 2010

According to the church history provided through the Trinity United Methodist Parish website, http://tumpfamily.org/, “in 1786, before our country had a president, Methodist Class Meeting took place in Middle Hope, New York. The Church was organized in 1788. Asbury Chapel, dedicated in 1822, was later sold. Another building, purchased in 1885, was dedicated Middle Hope Methodist Episcopal Church November 16, 1886. Fostertown folks attended Middle Hope services forming their own congregation in 1883. In 1834, Fostertown Methodist Episcopal Church was built and dedicated. In 1808 Meetings started in Rossville. In 1831, the Rossville Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated. On December 29, 1975 Middle Hope, Fostertown and Rossville Churches united to become Trinity United Methodist Parish.” This old building and cemetery are located at the intersection of Route 32 and East Road, near the borderline of Orange County and Ulster County in New York.

If you’re looking for people, you should start with the local library. If you get an obituary you can get a funeral home. If you have the funeral home who performed the service, you could possibly find a plot number. Everything Rossville itself had was lost in a fire, but you might have luck with the funeral home.

The cemetery is kept by an elderly couple. Unfortunately, neither of them can do the mowing themselves, so they have to hire people to cut the grass. If you want to donate to the Rossville Cemetery Association you can contact the Newburgh City Clerk to find out where to send a check.

I cannot find any info as to when the ‘Library & Museum’ is actually open to the public. No hours posted, just a moody, peeling sign. The stained glass is lovely. I would love to see the inside of the place. I have taken several photos of the gravestones on both sides of the road and was also wondering myself who maintains it.

A graveyard I love most especially is Westminster Presbyterian off of 17K. Not the new mess Church, the other one that was established in the 1700s on the corner. There are still services there, and the plots are lovingly kept. There are only about 8 folks left in the congregation all told, and a kindly old gentleman who mows the place invited me in one Sunday and allowed me to look around. It’s not the original building, which burned down ages ago, but it’s quaint, small, simple, and 100 yrs + with historic bones out back.

P.S.: Revision. Don’t ever try knocking yourself out finding this Church on the internet. They are not listed, and are not affiliated with Westminster on the same exact road, which also has a Rock Tavern, NY address. The one I’m talking about, I think it is officially listed as Little Britain Presbyterian, and it creates a lot of confusion, so if I added to it, my apologies.

It’s next to the Little Britain Grange Building. Well, it’s sort of catty-corner.

The library museum is no longer operating. Apparently it mostly consisted of old photographs of the area. I would also be interested to know what it contained and what happened to it all. From my understanding the building is in pretty bad shape, so I wouldn’t recommend trying to enter it.

My great- great- grand mother, Arminda Rand (aka Arminda Rand Harris), is interred in the Rossville Church cemetery (to the right of the Church, not across the hwy): my father & brother saw the stone, but it now not there. I would like to know I’d like to know what was inscribed on the stone please. Her dates are July 23, 1835-January 20th, 1880. Thank you in advance.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure who has the cemetery records for Rossville. “If you get an obituary you can get a funeral home. If you have the funeral home who performed the service, you could possibly find a plot number. Everything Rossville itself had was lost in a fire, but you might have luck with the funeral home” (Konrad’s earlier reply on this blog). Thanks Konrad for the info!
Thanks Pamela for the inquiry!